I have hypothesized the use of hydrogen as the lifting gas for my Ideal Airship , despite the screams of "Oh, the Humanity" by onlookers trying desperately to remind us of the Hindenburg disaster, 1937.
Consider that
1. More people are killed by automobiles in any two urban American counties in one weekend than died in the crash of the Hindenburg, yet you may well have driven the kids to their soccer match this afternoon without any fear.
2. A couple of nasty military helicopter accidents will cause more casualties than the Hindenburg's crash. Yet, we haven't abandoned the helicopter, that inherently unstable flying machine that MUST keep flying to remain aloft.
3. We have learned a great deal about new materials, about hydrogen handling, and about flying conditions since 1937 than can be imagined by naysayers, know-nothings, and detractors
4. The U.S. Navy --- a notoriously hard-headed and practical service --- continued to use blimps (much more vulnerable than the airships we are advocating, and with much less technological advancement in those World War II years) very successfully in hundreds of off-shore flights, in their successful anti-Nazi U-Boat campaign all throughout the war, long after 1937.
5. Advances in technology since the beginning of airship development have proceeded faster and far beyond similar advances in technology in, for instance, the steam locomotive in its early beginnings.
6. The advantages of airship freight logistics in areas without infrastructure, and at far less cost, are staggering and, in any other milieu, would have resulted in development at speeds far beyond that of nuclear weapons, or hunter-killer submarines.
... and on and on !
Yet, thanks to the power of the Internet and the viral voice of the uninformed, most people will quote their foolish comments as Truth and Wisdom, especially regarding how difficult hydrogen production is because of the very high temperatures required in its manufacture. One-Track minds !
What is not often brought to mind (far beyond Auld Acquaintance) is the availability and use of hydrogen right now .
Some hard statistics :
1. Hydrogen is a major resource in the chemical industry. Billions of cubic yards of hydrogen are utilized in gasoline production to get rid of the sulfur.
2. Hydrogen is needed to create ammonia, of which our country uses at least 109 million tons every year for use in the production of fertilizer .
3. We check our food labels every day while shopping for butter (at the recommendation of our physician) because H2 is used to harden fat, so that butter spreads easily on bread. It's the motivation for the use of those magic words "partially hydrogenated" on food labels.
4. For reasons with which we are unfamiliar, but which we are assured are critical, hydrogen is used as a carrier gas in the semi-conductor business.
5. One German city currently has 14 buses running through city streets using hydrogen fuel.
... and yet the Uninformed still continue to write Forum entries stating that production is prohibitively expensive or wasteful of energy.
Neither do most misinformed folks think of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) an essentially free source of intense heat (especially in Florida and much of the South and Southwest); instead they quote the high cost of producing heat energy for catalysis by the use of fossil fuels like (Golly !) coal.
Also remember that we are not advocating the wasteful disappearance of the hydrogen used in airships; we are recommending its storage in ballonets for lifting purposes. At worst, we suggest its use as fuel in H2 fuel cells, in which function it morphs into the formation of water vapor. No carbon footprint ! no noxious fumes ! no carbon particulates fouling the air !
Please think before you write, folks, or you'll wind up looking pretty foolish !
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